Monday, November 26, 2012

Roles of Modern Presidents

In his landmark book, The American Presidency, political scientist Clinton Rossiter has identified at least ten roles that modern Presidents juggle each and every day that they serve. At the conclusion of his first chapter, Professor Rossiter writes about putting the pieces of the job back together into a "seamless unity." He explains:

"The Presidency is... a whole greater than and different from the sum of its parts, an office whose power and presige are something more than the arithmetical total of all its functions. The President is not one kind of official during one part of the day, another kind during another part - administrator in the morning, legislator at lunch, king in the afternoon, commander before dinner, and politician at odd moments that come his weary way. He is all these things all the time, and any one of his functions feeds upon and into all the others. ...﻿

Mr. Truman, it is said, used to keep a sign on his desk that read: "The buck stops here."That, in the end, is the essence of the Presidency. It is the one office in all the land whose occupant is forbidden to pass the buck."

Do we expect too much from modern presidents? If so, is there any way to shift some of the roles and responsibilities to others or to other parts of government? How would that work?

117 comments:

Emily L
said...

The responsibility that the modern president holds today is a tremendous amount. I feel as if we expect a lot from them, and at times we might expect too much. What most Americans need to realize and to take into account is that the president must make decisions on account of the United States as a whole. Although I think that the president has a heavy work load, he or she, should know what they are getting into and should be ready to work on behalf of the United States. I think that other parts of the government should have the ability to hold greater tasks, such as Congress and the Senate. The reader states, "Since it is a one-man job, the one man who holds it can never escape making the final decisions in each of the many areas in which the American people and their Constitution hold him responsible." (216) I feel as if that one man, the president, should work with the other areas and not be held alone on account for every aspect of these tasks he is given. Many people expect a great deal from him because he is the "figurehead" of American society, but more roles should be given to other parts of government, with him just overlooking them and making sure they will better the United States.

I believe that modern Presidents play a large role and that we expect a lot from them. I also believe that they are elected to a position where they know what is expected from them. There are no surprises during a presidency as far as duties go and someone that runs for office should know these prior to their decision. We may expect too much out of our leader but they should be able to deal with all things thrown their way. We could, however, assign some of the duties to other members of the government. The people as a whole would need to vote on the things we believe a President should handle and the things he should pass off. That would be the only way to change the duties that the leaders of our country possess. I do not believe this is necessary though. Our leaders are fully capable of running every duty that is assigned to them during their Presidency and there is no need to change what duties the President has. One should know what is expected of them when they run for office and if they can't successfully run all aspects of a candidacy, they should never have run in the first place.

The President currently holds a lot of power, but it is necessary to have one person to be at the center of government. Even if his powers are becoming increasingly delegated to others, I believe that it is important for him to still hold all of the titles so that he can still symbolize the head leader in America. If his duties were given away all together, some people may start to have more power than the President himself. As a solution, the President can increase the number of positions under him so that he can lighten his workload without giving up all that he stands for.

No, I think that there is a lot of responsibility as the President of the US but that comes with the job. When a candidate runs for President they are not only running for that specific job or title but they are also running for multiple jobs and duties that come with being President. I think that if the US allowed there to be a President along with ten other people fulfilling all of the President’s other duties such as Chief Executive or State that there would be way to many people in power and it would easily get out of hand.

As a citizen of the United States, I for one do not think we expect too much from the president. The President is supposed to be the Voice of the People. Where he shall adhere to what the people want as well as being firm in what he believes in. We don’t except too much of anything we expect the president to do exactly what he is supposed to do. Although some can argue that some of the responsibility can be spread throughout other parts of the government yet it is completely plausible to say that the president should assume personal responsibility that gives the people some insight that he is going to do everything he can do within the limits of his budgets and our expectations. (Role of President).

The modern President clearly holds a lot of responsibility and much is expected from him. I think that often as Americans we overdue how much we expect him to do. The citizens push to hardly on the idea of the President making everybody happy, which is clearly not a possibility. A easy way to push these responsibilities to make our country more efficient is having experts in each field make the decisions so that the President, who might be less experienced in a particular field, will not have to. However, a President should know what he is getting himself into whenever he runs to be the President. Finally, like Peter Parker's uncle says, "With great power comes great responsibility."

The role the modern President's must play now, involves an amount of responsibly that one could not ever possibly keep up with. It seems that now a days we put the President on such a high pedestal that it almost seems as if we’re expecting or waiting for him to fall. We expect him to solve all of our problems that we may have created in the first place; think about it, Clinton Rossiter said that the President has 10 jobs that he “juggles with” day in and day out. That’s too much responsibility on ones shoulders. We should pass down some of the responsibility’s that can be handled by lower leveled government officials or government offices. That way the President could have more time to balance out all the other jobs he has and can focus on the things that everyday people are concerned with. If this doesn’t happen though, there’s no way anything will ever get done and the amount of pressure put on our modern presidents will only grow.

The American people expect a lot out of the President, but all the roles he has are vital for the running of the country. Congress could possibly take a couple of his roles, but in the end the President needs to approve what is being done for the country since he is the Chief of State and is the head of the nation. The President has numerous roles and duties, but does not have to do all of them alone. The president has his cabinet, advisors and all kinds of different councils in order to be informed and advised correctly on the subjects at hand. With all the help and advisors the President has on staff, it makes his duties and roles a manageable task to accomplish on a daily basis.

In the modern todays society the amount of work and roles held by the president is unbelievable. That being said, the work load and the pressure is what it takes to be the leader of our nation. In that, then it should be expected that the president can hold these jobs and we as the people are not asking to much from them. There is ways that we could shift some of the duties that he has but I feel that it is not necessary to do so. The President holding the power of CHief Executive, State, etc. is what makes him the president and the others not.

I agree with Zach, The presidents main Role is to be the voice of the People. He is must do his job and handle his responsibilities as The President but first his must represent America. He was elected as a representive and to do what the people want but at the same time doing what is best for the country. I think we do expect alot from the President but its a job he signed up for a felt he can do.

I think that modern Presidents do play a large and vital role in America. All Presidents are handed different issues to deal with whether it be a war, a time of poor economy, or a time of bad economy. Everyone wants their beliefs and ideas to be played out by the President but too much is being asked because he must find middle ground for everywhere which in turn makes citizens feel as if not much change is happening. Perhaps some duties shoudl be handed over but only to remove such strict limits on what the President is able to do within the rules of the Constitution. Overall, I do believe that too much is expected of the president from indivudulas since he is trying to satisfy America as a whole.

Without a doubt the President is by far the most powerful man in the world. But how much power is too much? One could argue that there is no such thing as too much power as long as that person knows how to use it. It sometimes appears that some presidents have more power than previous or future presidents. I believe the reason for this is how the president used his power. It always apears that Presidents who had a lot of power were not very good, but this is because we notice a President's power if he is abusing it.-Jack Leonard

A president possesses a countless number of duties as the leader of the nation. These duties are often charged with the wellbeing of the people and functionality of the overall nation itself. I believe that all these duties rightfully belong to the president even though sometimes they can be quite overwhelming. The president should not give any of these duties away to other branches of government because the president needs to be seen as the leader of the nation with the most responsibility. If the duties of the president were given away to other people the whole image of the president would cease to exist. A easy solution to this problem would be to allow more workers under the president, freeing up more time for the president to focus on more important issues.

In my opinion, we DO in fact expect too much from our Presidents. Like coaches or players in all sports, if they do well or win, we love them and they are heroes too us. If they lose or do bad, however, they become villains and we want them kicked out as quickly as possible. Today, the President has a lot on his table, with many different issues. As a society, we expect the President to cater to ALL of our needs, which is impossible. Unfortunately for the President, his job is to make decisions that are best for our country, whether or not everyone wants those decisions to happen. Although everything the President is dealing with is important, the lesser of those things should be pushed to other parts of the government, and allow the President to review decisions that should be made.

We do expect more from modern Presidents for many reasons. These reasons include that world integration, foreign affairs, and a larger media. People in modern day have to communicate far more than ever before, therefore the President has many more people to answer to. All his roles are important, but in my opinion the ones such as Commander-in-Chief and Manager of Prosperity are a couple of the most important roles.

The president is under such tremendous stress in today’s demanding government affairs, the president simply does not have time to meet every requirement given. However, this is part of the job. Americans rely on the man they elected to not only run the country but also the world. The president must accomplish the policies and accusations he promised when he was running for president. It would simply cause major problems within the government and society. The president would feel that he must meet the requirements of others members in his administration which in turn would cause problems. It would be similar to a sports team with two head coaches. The president is the only man capable of meeting the 10 roles of president. I strongly believe that it would do more harm than good to split up some of the roles of the presidents. It is tradition for presidents to work incredibly hard to meet the requirements to help the country stay economically sound and peaceful.

Before the President enters office, he most take an oath stating, "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will do the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." By swearing to fulfill his duties effectively, the President is automatically assuming the ten roles explored by Clinton Rossiter. It is not unreasonable for us to set high expectations on the President simply because he is aware and accepts these expectations when first entering office. However, it is certainly possible that we hold the President accountable for too many of America's faults. Our country drowns it debt, and it's the President's fault. Our country's education system is struggling and hardly rivals that of other world powers, and it's the President's fault. Rather than constantly placing the blame on the President, some of the ten roles can be passed down to lower government officials, perhaps experts in the field of the position they are appointed. The President would then serve more as a consultant than the primary voice. The President is completely consumed with so many jobs in his everyday life, and lightening his load could help the country run more efficiently.

I believe the job as President has many responsibilities, but we do not expect too much from modern presidents. Each president is elected because Americans believe the candidate is the right person to take on all of the roles. The President needs to take on each role because one person needs to be the center of all the activities taking place in the country. Therefore, one person can understand everything going on. It is difficult to keep organization and for each person to understand what is going on in a group, whereas one person can have control of the situation at all times. The President is a leader and has been chosen for his ability to lead the country in each role.

We do expect too much of our presidents simply because American citizens tend to think electing a new president will fix all of America's problems, then get frustrated when he is unable to create a utopia. Instead of expecting the president to solve everything, committees should be made more public in the sense that they get media attention and American citizens see what they are doing, and each committee should have a president that is elected by the general public or assigned by the president (like a vice president). Then the president could meet with the committee presidents and listen to what the committee presidents will do to fix problems and approve the ideas. By making the process public, then Americans can see what is going on with the government, and not blame the president for everything.

I believe that we do not expect too much from our presidents. All the far-stretching roles that they assume are vital. Aside from their political responsibilities, which, are in the job title, Presidents also act as a face of government. It can be hard for the public, as individuals, to see government as the intricate system that it is, and, much like the struggling farmer facing the massive banking corporation, to point out exactly who they should blame for their problems. The President acts as a great person to blame for national problems, whether they are the Executive Branch’s fault or not. And in the case of the latter, negative feedback from the public gives the President the motivation to fix the problem, wherever it may reside. It is extremely important that the president is Commander in Chief, the Chief Diplomat, and the Chief Legislator.

I believe that we do not expect too much from our presidents. All the far-stretching roles that they assume are vital. Aside from their political responsibilities, which, are in the job title, Presidents also act as a face of government. It can be hard for the public, as individuals, to see government as the intricate system that it is, and, much like the struggling farmer facing the massive banking corporation, to point out exactly who they should blame for their problems. The President acts as a great person to blame for national problems, whether they are the Executive Branch’s fault or not. And in the case of the latter, negative feedback from the public gives the President the motivation to fix the problem, wherever it may reside. It is extremely important that the president is Commander in Chief, the Chief Diplomat, and the Chief Legislator.

I do not think that we put too much pressure on the President because we elect him for the purpose of being the head of the country and making decisions that will benefit our nation as a whole. It is important that he embody all the roles that are necessary, but also that he has aide in all his work from secretaries, constituents, and other political groups of people such as Congress and the House. The ideas, opinions and desires of the American people should come first. The reason we elect ONE President is so that he can enact these wishes while acting as the sole representation of The United States to the World.

I think the president has a lot on his plate. However, he should know what he is up against when first campaigning for the office. He is the one that makes most decisions for the United States, so the workload should be expected. “Since it is a one-man job, the one man who holds it can never escape making the final decisions in each the many areas in which the American people and their Constitution hold him responsible” (216). The government, and the nation as a whole, would benefit greatly if the president worked with other areas, such as the Senate and Congress, to complete major tasks at a higher efficiency. On the contrary, until something like this does go into effect, if the president cannot successfully handle all of the aspects of presidency, they should not have ran in the first place.

It is an obvious fact that the President is ultimately responsible for almost every aspect of our country- even if their duties are extrenuous. According to John Blight "...the whole world offers no finer spectacle than this; it offers no higher dignity; abd there is no greater object of ambition on the political stage on which men are permitted to move" (195). Meaning that the President has a glorified role in the country, but rightly so since he has control over so many traits of the country. It is a huge responsibility to be President and at times extrenuous, but it is expected of him so there will be stress. The President has maybe too many duties, but Presidents have succeeded in the past and they still can by following all of their duties.

The responsibility that the modern president holds today is overwhelming. We expect a lot from the president, and at times, I feel we expect too much. The president represents the voice of the entire American populous and that is a lot to take in. It is difficult for the president to make a huge decision and it is difficult for him to please every single person in the entire United States. The president also acts as the face of the government. It can be hard for the public, as individuals, to see and understand everything the president does. The president does his best to make decisions that will better the country as a whole, and that is no easy task.

I do not think the people of the United States, and other nations for that matter expect too much of our president. Although he has very many responsibilities to carry out and try to uphold, as well as have his own personal life, I believe the President knows that he is going to have a lot of responsibilities and people leaning on him before considering to run for the position. We elect the certain candidate for a purpose, and I do not believe that we elect him for lack of ability to handle pressure.

I believe the President's responsibilities come with being the head and leader of one of the most powerful countries in the world. Even if we give the President less responsibilities, I believe he will still be held responsible for issues that our out of his realm of power. If one assumes a position of leading a nation, than they will be held accountable for all things good and bad that happen. "No President can fail to realize that all his powers are invigorated, indeed are given a new dimension of authority, because he is the symbol of our sovereignty, continuity, and grandeur" (198). A presidential candidate should not run for President without knowing that when he or she assumes the office as president, than they will become responsible for and held accountable for many things that he or she had no influence or control over. Overall, I believe the President does have a numerous amount of responsibilities but they come with the position of THE President of the United States.

I would disagree with the notion that we expect too much from the President. It is true that modern presidents have more power and responsibilities than ever before but these additions come for a reason. The president holds the highest position of power in the country. Therefore, it only makes sense that he holds all these roles. The presidency, by nature is a multi profession job and the man who has this job must be able to execute these professions.

Being the Voice of the People, yes we expect too much from the president because we see him as the “go-to” person who can change laws or pass a bill. There are roles that can be taken off from the president’s hands but either way the president will still have to respond to the rest of the roles he attains. Congress could have more people to take care of the unsolvable problems but the president still has to be involved because of the Constitution. Whatever happens in the nation, he will be the reason or the scapegoat that the nation turns to because he is the leader. Being the center of attention politically-wise is tough but there is no way one can escape from it. The president must have known what he had coming because he was going for the job, so it is natural to expect a lot from one person. In other words, some were meant to be presidents, and some weren’t.

The United States citizens expect too much from the president. Presidents are known to age extremely quickly while in office due to the outrageous magnitude of tasks that they are challenged with, bringing stress. Presidents are required, by the nature of their job, to fulfill all of the 10 responsibilities as mentioned in Rossiter's famous book, "The American Presidency." Americans expect a president to have an abundant variety and quantity of power. In the Stewardship model of the modern presidency, a president is expected to come into office and enforce change and progressive movement for the nation. However, in the system of checks and balances in place in the United States government, this change is not necessarily practical. That is the beauty of our government. Checks and balances keep our legal system stable and prevent overnight change in policy and procedure. Due to the magnitude of responsibility that a president is expected to assume, an administration is required to take full credit for any success or failing, even though there was nothing in their power to enact change. I do believe that powers and responsibilities should be delegated to other politicians by appointment of the president.

Although our government is a democracy that should be representative of the entire population, I believe that it is important that we maintain one person in the main role of representative control. The president has a lot to live up to, all of the expectations and notions of how he should serve from the people, yet, I believe this is not too much. When the candidate for president decides that he wants to run, he is committing himself to the job of president and what is expected of him. According to Rossiter, the "President is the American people's one authentic trumpet"(209), and he must be representative of the people. So, therefore it is okay for him to be the main face of the government because he must also be the main face of the people.

Our country is a democracy, not a dictatorship, the president does not need to have all of these responsibilities on his plate. It is absurd for all of the American dreams to be left on the shoulders of one man. No president can live up to that type of standards and succeed. "Since it is a one-man job, the one man who holds it can never escape making the final decisions in each of the many areas in which the American people and their Constitution hold him responsible." (216) Making one man constitutionally responsible for our countries future is ridiculous.

Today the country depends way too much on our president. Even though he must be a leader he cant be right on everything so it cant be his fault as much. This problem of pressurizing the President has gotten out of control just because he cant make a utopia for everyone that doesn't mean he is a bad president. They should put more pressure on other people through the other parts of the government. The senate is a main part of our government put gets overlooked by the president a lot. Our presidents job would be made a lot easier if only he had help from the other branches of government it cant always be one man fault, but that needs to change for a greater future. The senators should step up so the president can get to take a break from the spotlight of america

While the president's responsibilites are huge, we sometimes expect too much from our president and are over-critical. It's easy to blame our problems on one single person, but what citizens need to realize is that the president is not the only person who has a say in our government. Our founding fathers created three different branches for a reason, so the president does not have too much power. The president has a very large responsibility in our government, but we also need to remember that he or she is human and that the president is not the only cause of problems.

I do not think that the American public expects too much from the President. The President juggles many different hats, but was aware of the tremendous amount of responsibility when he or she began to campaign for Presidency. The President is the leader of the United States of America, the image of America across the world. Although the President is the head of the nation, it doesn’t mean that he is alone. The President has many advisors, cabinets, and others that assist him or her across all issues. He is given advice and is supposed to make a well informed decision for the country; the same country that had faith that he or she would make good decisions. While a few duties may be delegated, that is the power of a good leader, the President should ultimately shoulder the final decisions that run his or her country.

I do not think that the American public expects too much from the President. The President juggles many different hats, but was aware of the tremendous amount of responsibility when he or she began to campaign for Presidency. The President is the leader of the United States of America, the image of America across the world. Although the President is the head of the nation, it doesn’t mean that he is alone. The President has many advisors, cabinets, and others that assist him or her across all issues. He is given advice and is supposed to make a well informed decision for the country; the same country that had faith that he or she would make good decisions. While a few duties may be delegated, that is the power of a good leader, the President should ultimately shoulder the final decisions that run his or her country. - Kianna S.

Today, our modern day presidents fulfill a position of high duties and responsibilities. Over the years, American citizens have set high expectations and great standards for the president to follow. Voters seek a president to execute their standards. However, these expectations are critical. The president is viewed as the center head of the American government system and needs to know prior to receiving the title, how many duties they have. We do not expect too much from modern presidents because in our government they stand as strong figureheads, whom should be able to fulfill such responsibilites.

I believe that we as a society do expect too much from our presidents, not because they are unable to fulfill their duties, but because their positions are not clearly known to the public. I think that the issue of citizens becoming upset about presidents not following through with their promises made during campaign is an unreasonable reason to be upset with modern presidents because we do not know all of the attempts that they try. If every attempt made by either congress or the president was made public then the general public would be able to understand that the president is trying to follow through with his promises but he can’t. I also think that this issue of high expectations could be easily fixed if the roles of the president were explained clearly to the public. Most of the time, the complaints made by citizens are due to ignorance, so if the ignorance is fixed, then so is the issue.

Over the past year I have grown to greatly respect what each and every president has done for our country. Being President of the United States must be a difficult job and there is a lot that is expected of them. Even though this is the case, I believe that the job as the President of our country should come with many duties and that each candidate should be aware of the amount of time and effort they would need to put forth in order to make the U.S. a stronger nation. If the United States shifted some of the presidential roles to government roles, then I feel like this would create a more socialist-like society. America was founded on the foundations of freedom, and for this nation to stay true to its original values, we need to have a government run by the people with the President guiding and supporting the citizens. However, if it were absolutely essential to shift some of the roles of the president to other government members, then it should be done in such a way so that the government still listens to the people. As many are aware of, the Republican Party have basically chosen their candidate that is going to run against President Obama for the 2012 Election. Both Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama are two great men who want to lead this country in the way that they think is the right. I know that both of these men realize the duties that come with being the leader of America and I respect them. Generally speaking, in years to come I believe that whoever runs for President shouldn’t think that the people expect too much of them; they should be ready to take on the challenge and help America grow as a whole in all aspects of life.

I do not believe we expect too much from modern presidents. The job is consuming and comes with a big responsibility, yet the president should be able to handle the business matters the job entails. When a candidate is running for office up to the point he is sworn in to office as President, he is aware of the upcoming responsibilities and pressure the job as President holds. Only a selective group of people run for president, as they understand the accountability and dedication the job requires, and an even smaller group of people get elected, as the public feels only they can handle the job. In fact, I think it is important to have one person who oversees all of America and government functions as opposed to having too many little government positions. Having too many positions could easily get out of hand and become ineffective.

I think we expect a tremendous amount from the President. Whether this is too much or not, is up to your own interpretation. However, I believe that although this is a lot to be in charge of, when the President is in elections, he should understand what he is getting himself into and prepare him, so if he is elected he can be ready. I still do agree that the President has a lot on his or her plate and that some roles should be transferred to some other positions, such as Congress, the Senate, or the Government. I think the main roles for the President should be those that reflect our country as a hole, such as Chief of State, Chief Diplomat, spokesman of the nation, etc. However, I still think the President should still have a say on the other roles, such as where to send troops, how to keep the peace, etc. By transferring some of the jobs to other positions, but still having the President’s input, will help the President be less stressful and help him perfect his other main roles that represent us as a nation.

In many ways, yes I do think we expect too much from the president. No matter how smart or how much experience they have, a single person can not master every field that America expects them to. This leads to constant disappointment, and a continuous cycle of presidents not living up to people’s expectations. Presidents are supposed to have all of the answers, but not even superman would be able to fight two wars, bring a country out of a recession, be that face of America, a major world leader, and have a family of his own all at the same time. That is not to say that the president should reduce the number of public appearances he makes. I think this ceremonial role is one of his most important, and really connects him to the American people. The president of the United States is an ambitious role, and I don’t think we should expect less from anyone worthy of the position, but we should be more understanding when things do go as planned.

I feel that in our modern society that we expect to much from the president. They have so many jobs and are required to make decisions based on what is better for the United States in all of them. No matter how much government experience they have it is impossible for a single person to master all roles of our very complicated government. I also feel that the society we live in expects to much from the president because they don't understand the jobs that fall under him.

I believe that our modern Presidents do play a huge part in our government. They are the center of our government. I believe Americans put so much responsibility on our Presidents and depend on their decision more than anyone. The President is well aware of his responsibilities when he runs for this position. He should know that most of his time should be spent worried about how to make the lives of American citizens better and a strong country. Over all our presidents over the past years have set high standards for the future Presidents. -Megan Reynolds

If you were to survey a large group of people and ask them if a President could ever be too strong, most would answer, “No, we want to have a strong representative of our country.” I happen to fall into that that group of people. However, some people believe that the president has become too powerful. These people would argue that the president has taken away the power from the other branches of government. In my opinion, with too much government interaction and power, we loose sight of what the people really want. The President on the other hand was elected to act on behalf of the people and to carry out the ten necessary roles that Rossiter describes. The President must and should take full responsibility for these actions and perform them to the best of his ability. If the President feels it is too much on his plate he should not have assumed the position of authority that he has taken on.

I think the president hold the right amount of responsibilities. The president is the figurehead of the United States. We rely on the President to achieve everything that he says he will do - which usually falls within each of the responsibilities listed in the article. The president needs to be the key person in every action the Nation makes. Granted, there is a lot of choices. Yes, the president could use help at times, but I think that is the purpose of his cabinet. If the media puts more emphasize on the Cabinet, I think every demand made by the people will be met.

Yes, I do think we demand to much from our President. I think this has happen because the President has become a major figurehead for the United States, and now everything that happens we say that he needs to take care of it. Sometimes the President does not have the power to do some of the things, if the media and more people would emphasize the powers of the Congress and Cabinet the President would not seem to have such a large burden from the people.

Expectations are very high for modern presidents. People judge the president based off areas like the economy and bills being passed. In these subjects the president has a deep influence, but no power so to say. It is not fair to blame Obama for economic problems when he is limited in power. Citizens point the finger at the president because he is the symbol for America and its people. Being the symbol is tough, but by giving American politics a center, it helps keep everything grounded. Where the president has complete control is as the Commander in Chief of the military. This is his biggest role where he has power. He calls the shots and should be judged extensively in this field. I think no shifting of roles in government is necessary. Hiring more people and creating more government paid programs will have little, maybe no effect on what actually gets done in government and will mostly just add to the debt.

I believe that when a person wants to run for president, they are running because they believe that they can excel at the challenges a president faces. They are completely aware of what is expected of them, and if they have any doubts, then they probably shouldn't be running for office. I think that citizens in general expect our president to be the nation's leader in more than just politics, but that should be expected with what comes with the Oval Office. Sometimes the media does make a big deal out of little things that presidents may do, but the media makes a big deal about anything any a celebrity does. The cabinet is a great support system for the president, and at any time if a president feels overwhelmed, he or she has a great cabinet of political support to fall back on.

The responsibility and expectations of modern day presidents are huge. However, when the president decided to run for office, they were fully aware of the expectations and the responsibility that go along with the job. If a candidate thinks the expectations of the president are too high, they simply do not have to run. Expectations of the president have always remained clear throughout history, and even though leading a country is an enormous task, the candidate should take that into consideration when deciding to run. I do not think there is any reason to shift any of the roles or responsibilities of the president to other parts of the government. This is unnecessary because our Presidents have always been fully capable at managing their responsibilities. -Cate C

The President is expected to accomplish a substantial amount of work on a day-to-day basis and to fulfill the needs of each and every citizen. No man or woman is capable of fulfilling such high expectations that, in reality, only set them up for failure. The President, no matter how hard he/she tries, cannot be in ten places at once. By transferring a few of the less significant jobs to other branches of the government, the President could focus more on the issues that directly affect the American people and their well-being. The President should still be somewhat involved with the less significant positions, but they should not be his main priorities. In doing so, the President can better execute his role as the leader of our nation.

I believe that we as Americans do expect too much from the President. Americans do not understand the true day-to-day responsibilities of the President. Due to this reason, Americans just simply assume that the President is not fulfilling his campaign promises. This is sometimes perceived as a negative image that can cause poor job performance and affect the United States. The President always has a lot on his plate and I feel that some of his weight should be taken off his shoulders and given to other government officials. All the work that the President does is not always easy, and this is why the people of America need to accept and appreciate what the President does for our nation.

The President is expect to do a lot of things, that he sometimes is just unable to do. His role in government is key for it to run properly and efficiently. "Since it is a one-man job, the one man who holds it can never escape making the final decisions in each of the many areas in which the American people and their Constitution hold him responsible"(216). The President could, in some cases not, not take up certain roles and leave them to potentially other people. The role of Chief of Party for example does not have to be him. Any other party member could fill up that role and free up some time for the president and reduce responsibility and stress.

Before social media was at its prime, the president would give his typical state of the union speech and people would walk away believing what they heard for the most part. However, with the bombarding of social media that we now have, every opinion on every issue is brought to the surface and because of this, it makes it harder for the President to be more persuasive. Most people have a preconceived notion even before they hear the Presidents speech. Therefore, in order for the President to become persuasive, he must consider all aspects of every subject due to the plethora of accessible information and perspectives open to all. If the president and his cabinet members can show they have done their research, then social media can be on their side and the President will be able to make good choices and have a popular reputation which will lead to success like Neustadt describes.

I believe that the modern President of the United States does take on a tremendous amount of responsibilities. But at the same time I also believe that the President was the one that in fact ran for the job in the first place and did this with the intentions of taking on all of these responsibilities. Although the President does have a lot on his plate and has the ultimate say because he is the voice of the people, he also has a lot of committees around him to help him manage the conflicts in our country today. One thought is to delegate some of the responsibilities that the president holds to a team of vice presidents, making each of them more responsible for certain aspects of the government. In the end, one person does ultimately need to be held accountable and I would not want to see that changed.

Immense responsibility accompanies the oath sworn to by the President as he/she is inducted: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will do the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States." Through these words, the President is accepting his role as the leader of the United States and the amount of work linked to this position. The designated responsibilities are not excessive; however, expectations often exceed rationality. As leader of the nation, the President promises to execute his responsibilities to the best of his ability. While he must acknowledge the required tasks and the amount of difficulty associated with these duties, citizens must also realize the President is not perfect. The number of roles assigned to the President should not be considered ridiculous, but more leeway should be provided within his decisions. He is doing what he feels best for the country and his judgment should be respected.

What's interesting (aside from Jack M's reference to Spider Man) is the wide variety of opinions regarding our expectations for presidents. I hear wisdom in the following quotation from Dartmouth political science professor Linda Fowler. Offering advice to presidential candidates, Professor Fowler writes, “Have modest expectations about what is possible in the American system of separated powers… focus on a few priorities while developing a long-term governing strategy.”

I believe that we do not expect too much from modern Presidents. A presidential candidate is aware of the enormous amount of responsibility that he or she will have if they were elected into office. If a presidential candidate is unable to handle the repsonsiblity of President of the United States, then they are not qualified to be one of the most powerful people in the world.

In my opinion, we do not expect too much from our modern presidents. When the president is elected, he is aware of the responsibilties that he must take on as the supreme authority in the United States. The president is aware of the fact the each decision that he makes is vital to the people and the success of our country. Though the job may be overwhelming and difficult at times, the president knows exactly what he signed up for. Obviously, this candidate is elected by the people because the people feel that this man or woman possess the leadership qualities to lead our country successfully. Cassidy H

President Lyndon Johnson once said, “No one can experience with the President of the United States the glory and agony of his office.” There is no doubt that the office of the Presidency is not an easy one—nor should it be. The simple concept of being in charge of an entire nation of over 300 million people and 3.8 million square miles is enough to make many slump in their chairs. From a strict point of view concerning the explicit powers allocated to the President in the Constitution, it is not an exceedingly powerful office with its main purpose being a check on the powers of the other two branches of government. The President cannot create legislation; he can only sign it into law or veto it with the possibility that the bill will be passed anyway by a two-thirds majority override. He cannot declare war or even appoint certain officers without first gaining the consent of the Senate. To the cursory reader of the Constitution, it would seem that the President and the executive branch do not have any real latitude to create change in the United States government. Yet, when viewed with respect to those powers explicitly granted by Article II of the Constitution in addition to the numerous implied powers and powers granted (and expected) by Acts of Congress, the Presidency has broadened beyond the Framer’s intention. In the opinion of Clinton Rossiter, the Presidency is “one of the few truly successful institutions created by men in their endless quest for the blessings of free government” (196).

According to Rossiter in his book, The American Presidency, there are ten individual hats that the President is expected to wear on a daily basis, each of which could consume the whole of any individual’s time. While there is no doubt that the ten functions are overloading and utterly impossible for one person to exclusively fulfill, the President is not alone in his duties. There are over 23 individuals working in the President’s Cabinet and other Cabinet-level offices, not to mention countless aids, secretaries, departments, and committees that work to make the President’s job feasible. Whereas it is true that on many issues the “buck stops” in the oval office with the President possessing the final say-so, the supporting staff shoulders much of the responsibility to advise the Presidency on important policy matter and perform executive level tasks in the name of their individual departments. Therefore, the most effective and efficient way for a President to withstand the numerous responsibilities thrust upon the office is to be an effective leader, appointing the most competent, articulate, and loyal people to assist him. In this way, the multitude of expectations placed upon the Presidency is actually placed upon the Executive office, over which the President resides and is capably responsible.

I believe we expect our President to actually lead our country not as a figure head but as an active member in both the making of and fulfilling of laws. The President can no longer sit back and allow Congress to simply run the nation due Congress's consistently incompetent. Now presidents must be like specific presidents in the past who took power and used it for the betterment of the people. When talking about the impact that Woodrow Wilson had on the nation and the world when he became one of the first to truely think for himself and use his own ideas led to the founding of the League of Nations and United Nation. When talking about Wilson's achievement's it has been said "No vision in the twentieth-century has inspired greater hope of human advance..," our presidents in modern days need to step up to the plate like Wilson did and change the nation and the world for the better. Presidents need to use the power they are intrusted with by the people and be responsible with it.

I believe the President is not clothed in too much power. In Rossiter's convincing argument, he claims Presidency is, "one of the few truly successful institutions created by men" (page 196). He then provides the ten main roles of the President and how his functions affect us. The government that the framers of the Constitution intended was that of checks and balances. The Executive branch is checked by the two other branches in order to avoid tyranny and create balance in the states. If the President can successfully govern the USA, then he does not have too much power today.

The modern President has a lot of responsibility. From Commander-in-Chief of our armed services to the Voice of the People, he has to lead with a firm and educated hand. We do not expect too much. When they run for President, they know that they could one day be one of the most powerful men in the world. Their job is hard, but possible, and if anyone could achieve it, it should be the leader of The United States of America. I believe it is important that the United States has one man at the center of government. The President holds the executive, legislative, and judicial branch together.The job of the people is to elect a man that can accomplish all the things the President must do.

I do not believe that we expect too much from modern presidents. Yes, they have a lot of responsibilities put on their shoulders, but they are aware of what they will be responsible for before even running for president. Because each candidate for the presidency is aware of these responsibilities, they must be prepared and willing to take on all of it. If the candidates were not aware of what their responsibilities would be as President of the United States, then it would not be fair to all of a sudden shove these great tasks upon them because they would not be prepared to handle them, but since that is not the case, and they are aware of what they will be responsible for as president, we do not except too much from modern presidents.The candidates should know if they are not capable of successfully running all aspects of the presidency.

I believe that the President holds a tremendous amount of responsibility,but that he should be able to manage it without complaint. As President of the United States, his job is to preside over his country in all aspects. He is the most influential leader in our government, and he represents America to the rest of the world. Therefore, having a variety of jobs, such as Commander in Chief and Voice of the People, is expected for such a major individual. Should the President desire to decrease his responsibilities, he could possibly consult with the Cabinet and then determine the distribution of jobs that he cannot handle. Overall, the President plays a massive role as head of the United States, and with a big role comes equally big responsibility.

Without a doubt, the President of the United States has a massive amount of power in the United States government. Having said this, the citizens of the United States do not expect too much from modern presidents. The roles that the President takes on are equally important to the success of our country, and must be completed. We elect the President to take responsibility of these duties and to lead our country to safety and liberty. According to The American Presidency, “the power of the presidency exists, in part, only if the president is willing to use it” (Rossiter 195). The President must use his power in order to form a successful presidency, but it must be controlled for it to be useful. As long as the President does not abuse his duties and power, the country will run efficiently, and the citizens should not expect too much from modern presidents.

No. A president should be aware of the roles and be ready to execute all of them with excellent leadership. It is not like the President will win the election, and then get all these different roles thrown her way. The President has been educated and has had time to prepare for it and therefore should expect the pressure that is put on her shoulders.

I don't believe too much pressure is put on the President, The President is the leader of the nation, and for example during Obama's 08 campaign, he promised to eliminate income taxes for seniors making under $50.000, yet 4 years later, that proposal hasn't gone through, which is disappointing.

There is now much pressure on the President to deal with the fiscal cliff situation, and to get the economy back on track, and I don't believe that is too much to ask for... It is one of the Presidents roles to protect the people and act on their behalf, so the pressure on Obama's shoulders is to be expected by him.

There are major responsibilities that our modern president has to stand up to. He is the core of the government and is expected to be able to uphold those responsibilities. If the president where to need help with his responsibilities he has many high ranked citizens that work with him and can help. Yes the president is head of our country and yes he has major responsibility but it does not mean he is able to uphold everything he has to deal with. With all of the help that the President can get he is able to share his responsibilities with others and still keep his high rank.

The American people expect a President to be able to singlehandedly control the fate of the United States. All praise and blame of the government falls directly at his feet. Presidents have to deal with many issues from all angles. The growing role of the President threatens the fear of a tyrant and balance of power that the founding fathers emphasized. Duties of the President should be spread throughout the entire Executive branch to prevent one person from obtaining too much power.

The President has a ton of power in our government these days. I do not believe that we put to much pressure on our modern presidents. The Presidents have a lot of jobs but they know about all their responsibilities before they are elected so they know what they are getting themselves into. Since the President knows about these roles before going into office, the people do not much put to much pressure on the President. If the President did not know about these roles before going into office then it would be unfair and might seem like we are putting too much pressure on the president. The President has a lot of different roles in a lot of very different areas but they are all possible to achieve if the right person is in charge. The people elect a President who they believe can complete all the tasks the President must achieve.

Although the President does have many responsibilities, I do not believe that we expect too much from the President. The President is the, “ceremonial head of the government of the United States, and he must take part with real enthusiasm in a range of activities..” (Rossiter 196). He has many experts working with him to create many things like the annual budget. He is not doing all of these tasks single-handedly but rather with many advisors, and cabinet members to help him. The President holds a lot of power, and should oversee everything that goes through the government.

Even though the president plays a lot of roles in our government, I do not believe we expect too much from the president. His job is to make sure the United States runs smoothly and with little problems as possible. In order to do this, he has to play many roles. He can’t just have other people doing it for him because he needs to input his own ideas in different aspects of the government. According to Clinton Rossiter, “the president, in short, is the one-man distillation of the American people (197).” The president represents the United States as a whole and that may cause people to believe that we expect too much from our presidents. The presidents chose to represent the United States so we should expect a lot because what the president does today will affect our future tomorrow.

No we do not ask too much from modern Presidents. I say this because they knew what the job they ran for entails. The jobs Presidents are faced with are an honor to execute, and i believe a good and honorable President will do whatever it takes to make sure he has done the best job he could do. The tasks we put upon our President would overbear the average citizen, but a person who is passionate about leading the nation could indeed execute his jobs fully.

The American people expect too much from the President. Rossiter created a list of ten roles the President should be while in power and asking him to fulfill all of those roles at the same time is too much to ask for from the people. Presidents receive all of the glory or ridicule by citizens and this should not be the case. The responsibility of the country should not rely on one person, it should rely on many. Responsibilities and roles should spread from the President to the Executive Branch so that so much power is not given to one particular person.

I do not think we expect too much from our President, as it is a role that must maintain multiple jobs. I do believe that the President could be overwhelmed by all his occupations, but if he has the heart and mind to do it for our country, then it shouldn’t be too much. The President is the center of our government and has the power to play all those roles. No other person could do as well as the President himself.

I do not believe that we ask too much from the president. These jobs are what comes with the job, are part of the government and an honorable man will attempt to fulfill each of the jobs to the best of his ability. In some ways though, it is unfair. As Rossiter wrote, “we give our President small credit” for all the good things he does, and “full blame for hard times” (212). So I understand that he does have a great responsibility and in certain ways we expect too much of him. But the key is balance and respect. We must respect the burden he bears and know that not all the decisions are made by him. One problem may not have passed through the president’s hands but it is his job to fix it and that is why the people elected him president: to be the leader.

The President definitely has high expectations from all the citizens of the United States. He as the sole leader of the United States must expect this. He is elected to lead the US and be prepared for all expectations people may have. When it comes to failures in his position, the blame may completely be put on him. This seems a little extreme considering he is not the only person making decisions for this country. The President should understand what is expected of him while leading this country and know how to handle the pressure. We choose a person to be President believing that they will help and protect our nation with confidence, success and moral decisions. We have too many expectations, but when one person is the leader of a nation, it is no surprise that the citizen's expectations are high.

The President of the United States has a large amount of power and responsibilities in the United States government. The President gets all the blame when something bad happens and all the praise when something good happens. The president has a difficult job dealing with all of these responsibilities and jobs but he handles it. I do not believe that we expect too much from the modern president. The president has many responsibilities that are important. The success of the United States relies on one person and that is the President because of all of the responsibilities he has. Of course the president has many responsibilities and jobs but he is prepared to handle each and every one of these because he is the president. The President hires many experts to help him work and create solutions to the problems that the United States has.

I do believe that we expect and depend a lot from the President, but it should be expected when running for office. He is the voice of the people and we expect him to lead us in the right direction. That is what he gets when he is titled the President of the United States, and should know of the pressure that is to come. We as the people elect a man or woman who we believe can handle significant amounts of pressure, but continue to strive as a result of it. I do also think there are some duties that could be shared or helped with as I am sure there already are. But the more the President is able to juggle, the more respect and significance he or she has to our country.

As Bryce stated earlier, the American people entrust the President alone and when praise and blame are to be given it all falls on the president. Due to the reliance on a singular position, the power of the President seems to overshadow all other executive positions. Without distribution of powers, we grow accustom to reliance on the President rather than all branches of the government. The President grows closer to a monarchical role with a heightened sense of authority over other branches.

I think that we do expect a lot from the president, but i also think we have the right to because he is in charge of this entire country. The president has several duties he must attend to, but if he had less work then the job would be as serious as it is. Although the other positions do a lot of work and are not given as much credit as they deserve, the president still does more work. If you gave more jobs to the other branches of government, then they would gain more power than needed.

I think the president is expected to have and remain to have a lot of power. As we discussed in class, the president has many roles in what he is responsible for in the country. As the world has evolved today, the role of the presdient is has grown and the only powers that are restricted are the ones clearly stated in the constitution. We should not spread out powers to the other branches because the nation is led by the president, and that the president should be responsible for leading the nation. There also, I believe, should be many advisors, which there already are, to guide the president in the right direction. With the advisors help, the president should be fine with the amount of work he has to do.

I do believe that we expect a lot from modern presidents, but it is completely necessary because he is the leader of our country. We should expect a lot also because we are putting all of our trust in him in hopes that he makes smart decisions. There are ways to shift some of the roles and responsibilities around so that the president doesn't get too much power. He can spread the power to the other branches of government so that he doesn't have too much on his plate. I believe that the work is distributed pretty much evenly, though. Obviously the president has the most power, but he gives a lot of rights given to the other branches of government.

I believe that even though we expect so much of our president, much of it is necessary and needed. He is the leader of one of the worlds most dominant countries. it takes much responsibility to be our president, and it is expected of him to make the right decisions.So no, we do not expect too much of the president. He is the prime representation of our country. Some of his responsibilities may be shifted to other branches of government for help, however. The president has much on his plate, and some of the less pertinent decisions could be handled by another part of the government. The president doesn't have to do everything, but by assuming the role as President of the Unites States, he is proving that he has the responsibility to run our country correctly.

Presidency today has evolved into a much more complex position than earlier presidencies. The president is not only focused on our nation but must be very involved in global matters all the time, especially with terrorism being at the forefront. Every time a new concern arises, for instance homeland security, it adds to the president’s strain of trying to be caught up with all of his duties. A part of me thinks he does have too much responsibility and that he and the country would be better served by distributing his tasks among other areas of government. However, the president must then surround himself with people who he trusts to be completely knowledgeable in their area so that he does not have to doubt their decisions. Ultimately, it is somewhat comforting to know that we have one person in the president who takes full responsibility for the decisions made regarding our country. While the president does have a lot on his plate, I think that his many roles are what makes the title of president the supreme authority rather than simply a figurehead.

In my opinion, we do expect a lot from the president since we granted him the power to be the leader of this nation. He also knew what he was getting into when he ran for this position, and even though there is an increase in technology and education to help him out he also got an increase in responsibilities. Now in the modern day, the president must also help other nations in need when in rough situations. Though no one is perfect, the president is expected to keep up with his responsibilities. It is also probable to divide his responsibilities up with people in the government just like the role of Chief of Diplomat, whereas it is divided by the president, congress, and the senate. In conclusion, we do expect a lot out of modern presidents.

Portrayed in The American Presidency by Clinton Rossiter, the President of the United States has a large amount of power. From this it is not wrong that the citizens expect too much of the President. He is the most powerful person in our country and if the country prospers he is rejoiced with it, but if it declines than he is blamed for it. The President is elected to lead the United States and he has the responsibility to protect the citizens. The American people do not expect too much form the President because he has so much responsibility of our nation rested on his shoulders.

The Modern President has a multitude of roles that he must play. Like Machiavelli states in the Prince a man of power needs to be generous and yet feared. The president should be the same he should be trusted by and feared by the globe. His role as a promoter of free enterprise should reflect his trustworthiness with his people. His role as a world leader should reflect his leadership outside of the U.S. I think we as the people hold the president to a certain standard that is justified because he is the leader of this country which is not an easy task.

Today, our Presidents have to fulfill a position of high duties, responsibilities, and to help our country in every way possible. In our society today, many people believe that we expect too much from our presidents, not because they do not fulfill their duties, but because the position of the presidents are not known clearly from the public. To be President of the United States is a very difficult job, and there is a lot that is expected to be done by them. But if you run for Presidency, you should realize that what you are running for would not be easy. I think that we need to expect a lot from our president because if our President does not think he can do it, than he does not need to be in office. “The power of the presidency exists, in part, only if the president is willing to use it.” (Rossiter 195). The President does not have to do everything, but taking oath for becoming President, it proves that he has the want to be responsible to run our country, and do it correctly.

The president is given enormous amounts of power, to try and protect and support this country. The president should be able to fulfill the requirements of the job. The one running for the presidential position should be well aware. Even though the president should be required to do the roles that are asked of him the criticism he receives can be at times harsh and unfair.the president receives small credit for good things and "full blame for the tough times" (Rossiter 212). The president of the U.S. has many obligations he has to attend to, and rightfully so, but the constant criticism he receives is disrespectful and unfair.

I feel that in our modern society that we expect too much from the president. They have so many jobs and are required to make decisions based on what is better for the United States in all of them. No matter how much government experience they have it is impossible for a single person to master all roles of our very complicated government. But in the Presidents defense the United States government has many people helping the president at all times and making him rum the United States. Even though the President is the decision-maker in our government I don’t think the people he works with get enough credit.

I do not believe that we ask too much from the president. These jobs are what comes with the job, are part of the government and an honorable man will attempt to fulfill each of the jobs to the best of his ability. In some ways though, it is unfair. As Rossiter wrote, “we give our President small credit” for all the good things he does, and “full blame for hard times” (212). So I understand that he does have a great responsibility and in certain ways we expect too much of him. But the key is balance and respect. We must respect the burden he bears and know that not all the decisions are made by him. One problem may not have passed through the president’s hands but it is his job to fix it and that is why the people elected him president: to be the leader.

America is not asking too much from our president to run our country. Obviously, when you run for the office, it is necessary to understand there are many roles when you're the President of the United States. He was elected president because the majority of America believes he will handle the current conflicts in our country better than any of the other candidates. Everyone trusts him to fix the problems, that is why Americans put the majority of the blame on the President. If a president were to complain about all the roles he must fulfill, obviously he is not fit for the Presidency of the United States of America.

Do we expect too much from modern presidents? If so, is there any way to shift some of the roles and responsibilities to others or to other parts of government? How would that work?

I feel that we do not expect too much from our president. The president knows what he is getting himself into as he takes his seat. The fact of the matter is that the roles we expect the president to fulfill, he doesn't usually take care of them. Sure, you're running a nation, and we blame you for all the bad things. But that's part of the package! The roles the president takes as he steps into office aren't more than he deserves. Our modern society expects what the president should as well as he takes office. I do acknowledge that every negative aspect of his term gets put on his back, but then again thats part of the job. All in all, the presidents roles are a ton. Running the United States of America is a big title. But, we expect just what he should expect as he takes oath.

I believe that the power within the government is well distrusted. We as a constituency may expect a significant amount form the president but the president has a strong support staff to ensure that he can fulfill those expectations. There is no inherent need to shift those responsibilities because the president, as the pre-eminent head of the United States government, should be involved in the majority of our political system. The current roles and expectations of the government, combined with his cabinet to help him fill those roles, enable him to maintain that level of involvement.

We expect too much from the president today. He is expected to not only be a leader in the White House but also in Congress. He is expected to provide for the less fortunate both domestically and foreign. He is expected to reduce violence domestically and prevent conflicts abroad. The President is juggling too much at once to do an effective job on all of them. That is why we have been disappointed with our presidents for the last decade and a half, we are setting the bar way too high.

With such a large population the president will never please everybody. The president today takes so much criticism from all sides of the political standpoint. The president does what he can to please as many people as possible while still maintaining a positive support for his presidency. There is too much expected of the president today to please over 150 million americans (some uneducated) where every one get more than they give. unfortunately people want all the benefit without paying for them which makes it hard for the president to make everyone happy. In the end the president does what he can and until he/she is impeached that president they are a success.

The president holds the most powerful single position in our government today, but do we expect too much from him? Personally, I do not believe we require too much out of president because our government reviews a majority of his work. I also believe because he does hold the highest position of power in our country, he should know his responsibilities. The hardships of being president, comes with the job.

During a President’s inauguration, he takes an oath to “faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States.” Many Americans have different perspectives on what it truly means to execute the job of being the president. The presidents in modern day have a large role in America. They enter office and inherit different national issues whether it be war or a poor economy. Some Americans would argue that to successfully execute the job of presidency means to fix major issues such as war or economy; but most Americans just want their beliefs and ideas to be acted out by the President which really is not realistic. When certain ideas and expectations of the citizen’s are not acted upon, some Americans might feel as though the president is not doing his job because the people are not seeing change. I personally think Americans do expect too much out of the president. Realistically, it is not possible for the president to make all of the citizens of the United States happy. Perhaps, instead of having the president be the sole ear to the voice of America’s issues, some of the roles of responsibilities could be shifted to other parts of the government. Certain duties could be shifted around members in the government to relive the president of expectations to fix all of America’s problems. The president’s main objective is trying to please America as a whole, not each individual which makes up the country. Maybe little committees could specifically to hear the ideas and desires of the people. These ideas and wants could be made into an organized list and be handed over to the President. This would make the President’s load much lighter and might relieve him of some stress.

Given that every country needs a central leader, the expectations for modern presidents are not held at too high of a standard. While the workload may sometimes seem overwhelming, it is completely necessary to have one person who stands as a symbol or "poster boy" for the country. The citizens of America need someone to look to when times are tough, someone who can reiterate our purpose and withhold the meaning and belief in the ideals this country was founded on. With all of this said, the amount of pressure on a president must be unbearable. In order to alleviate at least some of this stress, maybe more of the "busy work" could be spread throughout the offices under the president, such as his cabinet. This would allow more time for the president to be an icon. Meanwhile, he still would be responsible for any major decisions and apart of any case he desires.

Yes, the modern society expects a lot from the president. This is because many people do not understand how government works, they believe that what the President says, the Congress must (and should ) agree with. But that is not the case, there are many obstacles the President must face to get something accomplished. Maybe the President should play a bigger role in Congress, but not too much so that the checks and balances is thrown off. The President should speak his ideas through his Vice-President during the Congress meetings. Maybe if this was the case the modern President could play a bigger role in making Bills and laws.

A president in todays society is expected to most definitely be the leader of our country. Because most people do not understand and follow politics, people expect the president to protect the people and do what is best. They expect the president to be the outright leader of America and lead this country. While some may argue that the president has too much pressure, I believe that the president should understand the pressure when he runs, and should learn how to deal with it.

A good government has a strong leader. The roles of a president are a lot, but are necessary. Considering that there are three branches to government, the sharing of powers allows for a sharing in roles, and because of this the presidential roles do not ask too much. The areas a president takes control over are important to maintaining a well rounded society. A figure head is needed, because that is who citizens look to find reassurance, safety, and potentially blame. A president should exercise all his or her roles with a strong grip because each is necessary. There are many shared powers in government, which is good, but the presidential roles only work if there is a symbol associated with them. The presidential roles are significant because the president is the overall leader of the country. His role's overall are manageable and can not be divided.

I do not believe that the American people expect too much of the President. Although it is impossible to fulfill every single one of his roles perfectly, it is reasonable to hold the President to a high standard in every area he is responsible for. Additionally, the President has plenty of people around him to help him fulfill these important roles for our country. The President should undoubtedly know what he is getting himself into when he begins his political career, so we shouldn't have to cut him slack when he actually earns the title as President. Overall, the President of the United States should take on all of the responsibility and stress that comes with fulfilling these essential roles.

I believe that we do not expect too much from our modern presidents. They know that when they choose to run for the positions, that the job comes with the responsibility of being who many consider the most powerful man in the world. A President should be able to handle the pressure, and if he cannot , he is not fit for the job. Today, the President is seen as a kind of world leader, and if he cannot handle that pressure, then he should not be the President of the United States. The pressures are aware to those who want to be President, and if they cannot handle them they do not deserve to be President.

The president does have an incredible amount of responsibility and expectations to fulfill, but I believe that it is necessary and not too much for the American people to ask. In order for him to be the leader of our country, he needs to take the lead in all the different roles. The president must know what he is getting himself into, and what will be expected of him. It is good for America to have a central leader to look towards for all issues, and for there to be a consistent view and opinion in all roles, instead of having many opposing goals and ways of carrying out a role.

I believe that we do expect too much from the President of the United States. As the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, most of the blame for everything falls back onto his shoulders. But, with the way our democracy was set up by our founders, it is impossible for a single person to be that powerful. There are other branches which take some of the power and responsibliity, but naturally, with the connotations that come with being the President, everything is going to be somehow blamed on him. Catherine G

I do not think we expect too much form our Presidents. Sure, they have a busy schedule, but they knew that coming in to the position. The President does have many different roles, all of which are crucial to the smooth running of our country, but they are not all very difficult to accomplish. His role as Chief of State merely has him giving out awards and "rolling the first egg for the Easter Bunny"(198). Also, the role of World Leader solely involves him being an example for other countries and everyone else. Most of his jobs mostly just make him give many speeches and being a public figure. The President is not asked to do too much because most of his roles are easily fulfilled.

I believe that we expect too much of the President. Because he is the leader of our country, many people rest all blame on him when something goes wrong. However, a democracy does not allow one person to have so much power. Knowledge needs to be distributed to citizens so that everyone can understand that not all decisions and actions are made by him and that he has many advisors who contribute as well. People ask too much of him and it is not in his power to make America a Utopia.

I do not think that we expect too much from the modern presidents. They are the president of the United States, they should know going in that they have a lot of responsibilities as president. Also, like Neustadt says, "THe Constitutional Convention of 1787 is supposed to have created a government of "seperated powers." It did nothing of the sort. Rather, it created a government of seperated institutions sharing powers." (218) This proves that not everything is in the hands of the president so the modern presidents don't have too much on their plate.

I feel that we expect too much of the President. The President's job is to lead the country but this is taken over board. His job is to the head of the government but he only has a limited amount of power. I think the President should be the spokes person of the people. His job is to do what the people want to the extent that he does what the people need.

I feel that a lot of pressure is put on the President by the American people, but it is pressure that should be expected by the most powerful man in the world essentially. The President should go into office knowing that there are extremely high expectations of him/her. But what I don't understand is why people make arguments such as: "What is the President going to do about the economy?". When in reality, the President has very little control over things such as the economy. So the President is also put under a lot of unnecessary pressure as well by some of the critical people in this country.

I do not believe that we expect too much from modern Presidents. America is one of the most powerful countries in the world, and we need a leader who will reflect that same power. When running for President, one has to fully understand and accept the tough responsibilities that a President must fulfill. "No President can fail to realize that all his powers are invigorated, indeed are given a new dimension of authority, because he is the symbol of our sovereignty, continuity, and grandeur" (198). Though an American President does a tremendous amount of work and has multiple duties that he must finish every day, America needs a President who is as strong as our country is.

I believe that what we expect from our President is exactly what we should. To be the President of the United States is not a given to the faint of heart or the weak kneed. To be President you must ask for it. These men and women campaign and travel, and bribe and fight just for a chance to become President. We cannot shift these roles onto others merely because these roles were not developed before there was a president, quite the opposite actually. This list of Modern roles was created after observation of presidents, it merely states the things that a president should be and what they naturally do by being the President of the United States. To shift these powers unto other parts of government is to strip away a part of the Presidential Position. These ten roles aren't burdens for the President but the very essence of what it means to be the President of the United States.

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